to their proposal with a sudden interest.

"It will be some trouble to you," he answered. "It is not as thoroughly
screened, and there is the delivering. The men cannot carry it home in
market-baskets."

"I don't know about the screening," said Yardley rather grimly. "When
you clean up your bin, and find several bushels of sand and refuse out
of five or six tons, you think half of it, at least, ought to have been
good burning-coal. And in wholesale buying you get long tons."

"I can do it as well as not," replied Jack. "In fact,"--laughingly,--"it
will rather redound to my credit to order largely, and we have a
somewhat extensive coal-shed. But you must look up one or two men who
will cart it, and a man to screen; and, when you have counted up your
labor, decide upon what price you can offer your coal. Perhaps it would
be as well to canvass, and learn how many tons you can dispose of."

The workmen had their own board of managers, of which Yardley had been
elected president. They generally met every week, and now Yardley laid
this matter before them. There would be an average saving, he thought,
of two dollars on every ton, but the coal must be paid for in thirty
days. If the men chose to leave one or two dollars every Monday night
(for Darcy had wisely made Monday instead of Saturday pay-day) they
might give in an order for one or two or even three tons.

Meanwhile Peter Yardley found some thorns even in his path. A good,
stout Irish lad was willing to do the screening at a dollar per day; but
when he spoke to several carters, who were not busy half the time, to a
man they stuck to their regular price, fifty cents per ton. Not one of
them would work by the day.

"I can fix that just right," declared one of the men. "My wife's brother
has a heavy wagon and two mules. He used to do carting for the
iron-mills, and since then he has had mostly catch-jobs. He owns a
little place over on the creek-road; and I know he will be glad enough
to do it, and maybe take part of his pay in coal."

Seth Williams was hunted up. He would come, and bring his son who would
help about loading, for two dollars and a half a day. There were
seventy-odd tons subscribed for, but they decided to make their order
one hundred tons. Coal was selling at six dollars and a half per ton at
Yerbury. After due calculation, they offered theirs to the men at four.

It came duly to hand. After the first day, Williams hired another team
on his own acc